


Young God

by kitty_pryde_bi_pride



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, BAMF Percy Jackson, Character Death, Dark Percy Jackson, Gen, God Percy, Hurt No Comfort, fighting back against the system, the gods are awful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:09:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25133677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitty_pryde_bi_pride/pseuds/kitty_pryde_bi_pride
Summary: “The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.” -Plato
Comments: 13
Kudos: 388
Collections: perseusjackson





	Young God

**Author's Note:**

> i really hope y'all like this! it's my first ever quote fic haha so hopefully it turned out okay- i'm still not too sure abt it
> 
> it's hopefully a little bit of a different take on the whole evil percy thing, so let me know if you think it was successful!
> 
> plz feel free to comment and leave kudos if you like it- it really means a lot :)
> 
> have a fantastic day and plz enjoy !!

Percy is brought into a world of monsters and gods when he is only 12 years old.

It is both far too early to bring this kind of stakes and pressure into his life; and far too late to teach him the realities of his world.

He forges onward, not out of a sense of duty to the estranged gods or the abstract idea of a world that needs him, but because he builds his identity on loyalty to those he cares about.

His first friends at camp are Annabeth and Grover and they teach him the value of total reliance on those who care for him.

At the same time, Luke teaches him that he can only trust those who prove themselves worthy of it, and he learns to guard himself a little.

He meets more people; Tyson and Clarisse, Thalia and Nino, Beckendorf and Rachel; and each friend teaches him something new.

They show him that the best path to protecting his loved ones is to follow the gods and believe in their prophecies and he listens.

But he witnesses firsthand Luke’s descent into madness and anger, Ethan Nakamura’s growing hatred of the gods and their cruelty, Silena’s betrayal in a misguided attempt to help her own friends, and he takes note of the gods’ reactions.

They respond with disappointment and callous dismissal of the demigods, the heroes who lay their lives down for petty fights and incomprehensible grudges, and his own loyalties shift further from them and towards his friends.

He will stay with the gods as long as his friends do, too.

\-------

An equilibrium this tentative can only last so long and his fraying loyalty begins to splinter the moment one of his closest friends dies.

Apollo has become mortal and drags Jason on a quest – Percy knows that the god had no right, his friend had served his time and fought in two world-ending quests already – and Jason dies, hurt and alone, with his friends left oblivious back at the camps.

It’s not fair and it becomes abundantly clear to him that the gods feel no loyalty to those who risk everything and die for them.

\-------

He’s angry, sure, but he stands by his friends and supports them in their grief: he will follow their lead through the end.

Besides, he trusts Annabeth to choose the right side, to guide him.

He looks around sometimes and wonders if it’s all been worth it in the end- Nico is lost in the wind, Grover is unreachable, Tyson is with his father, Thalia dedicated her existence to a goddess, Frank and Hazel stay at the Roman camp.

He sees the Three Fates one day one his way back to camp after visiting his mother, and sees how they look frightened- he didn’t know it was possible. They lift their scissors, attempt to cut through a sea-green thread that matches his eyes, but the scissors break. Atropos’ hands shake. He blinks and they’re gone. 

Where does his loyalty lie if he doesn’t know who his friends are anymore?

\-------

Percy has decided that it’s not his job to help with quests anymore. 

He’s done his part to save the world, to fight for the greater good, and he deserves to sit back and rest with his friends and girlfriend as much as he can.

Even when things are restful, he never quite feels at ease – just another thing to blame on the gods, to add to an ever-growing laundry list of grievances – and he seeks out an old friend.

Someone deeply connected to the world of the gods, immensely knowledgeable about the world, but who will never have to know the stakes he lives with.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare is the Oracle, chosen one of Apollo, but she has always been his friend first.

They sit together, sipping lemonade in the brutal sun on the Big House porch, and Percy asks if there’s any new prophecies on the horizon.

She takes a moment to answer, studying him carefully- it’s pointless, of course, no one but Annabeth can read him these days. “Why do you ask?” 

He doesn’t make eye contact with her. “I’ve been the hero of so many prophecies, at this point, if anyone deserves a heads up it’s me.”

“Look, Percy,” she starts, trailing off for a moment when he glances over at her. She takes a deep breath before she continues, probably gathering up the courage. “Percy, you’ve got to understand my position. I am the Oracle. I am beholden to the gods, but ultimately, I am a neutral party- an observer, if you will. Those parts of me are essential, but I’m also one of your closest friends. I don’t want you to be hurt.”

“Thank you, Rachel,” he answers, finally looking up at her. A confession like this, however brief, means risking the gods’ wrath- they always seem to be watching. It means a lot.

She leans towards him conspiratorially. “The gods have been largely quiet since Gaea- no need for us mortals right now, I’d imagine. Even so, something’s happening. Things are shifting into new places and I’ve heard whispers about a horrible new monster being made, but no one seems to know anything else about it.”

“The quest Annabeth is on-” He rakes his hand through his hair, takes a deep breath, and grimaces. “Is she alright? Should I go after her? It’s not connected to any of that, right?”

“It might be,” she says and he tries to shoot down the surge of anger he feels- she doesn’t need to be roped into something else like this, especially when he’s not around to watch her back. “Nothing’s for sure yet. We’ve just got to sit tight and wait for things to play out. At this point, all we can do is have faith in the gods that they’ll guide us when time comes.”

He doesn’t like leaving his fate in the hands of the gods, but he doesn’t have much of a choice. “Alright, Rachel. I’m trusting you with this. I’ll leave her be and wait for her to return.” 

She smiles gratefully at them and they pass the rest of their morning baking in the sun, at peace.

\-------

It works until it doesn’t. Annabeth dies and what’s left of his fractured loyalty shatters.

\-------

Thalia sees Percy for the first time in months and he looks like hell.

His hair is shaggier than normal and the deep, heavy circles under his eyes are haunting. He looks wild, something feral and wild in his movements, untamable like the sea, and she wonders how much of himself he has always held back for Annabeth’s sake.

For a moment, she wonders if things could have turned out differently if she had just been a little braver and embraced the Great Prophecy- if she had let herself turn 16.

He steps towards her and she can’t bring herself to be afraid; she knows who he is and he’d never hurt a friend.

He asks her to leave with him and she tells him that Annabeth wouldn’t be happy with this.

He answers that Annabeth is gone now, lost to the same gods she dedicated her life to, and what she wanted doesn’t matter anymore.

Thalia responds by throwing her silver circlet into the dirt and taking his hand. Nico steps out of the darkness, shadows coiling around him, and they step together.

Percy’s loyalties are now directed against the gods; Nico’s got a million grudges to fulfill; and Thalia’s pride won’t let these injustices go ignored.

Together, the three of them might just be strong enough to take on the world.

\-------

Rachel stares at him blankly, sitting down while watching him pace anxiously, and frowns. 

“You can’t be serious about going against the gods. Do you even understand what that means?”

Percy feels like he hasn’t stopped moving since he got the news about Annabeth – he’s consumed to his core – and his hands shake while he runs them through his hair. “Of course I do- I’m the one who stopped the last few uprisings. I know better than anyone what it means.”

He looks down, looking incredibly sad and older than his years, and continues, muttering. “Annabeth died because I wasn’t there. Luke, Beckendorf- hell, Jason died because I wasn’t enough to save them. I can’t just stand back anymore, watch the gods hurt the ones I love. I won’t be as bad as them.”

Her face softens briefly, but she masks it with a glare at him. No matter her feelings on the matter, the gods can’t see an ounce of sympathy from her. Even so, she tries to temper her words. “I-I know that, Percy, but it wasn’t all your fault, you know?” He doesn’t answer and she’s forced to continue, despondent. “Why are you here, putting me at risk then?”

He stops in front of her, bending down so he’s at eye level, and his gaze is terrifying. “Someone needs to hold them accountable…And I need to know what I have to do next. Will you help me, with at least this much?”

She doesn’t want to answer, but in the end she already knows the choice she’ll make. “…If you want to survive even one battle directly against the gods, you’ll have to start by going back to the River Styx.”

\-------

They are the Children of the Big Three and that means something, whether they like it or not.

They’ve been marked from birth by monsters, cursed with enormous responsibility, and yet they’ve never taken control of the power granted to them.

They know it’s time to stop following others; that they have the potential to take the lead if they want it: Percy won’t be held back from what’s right by the gods, and Thalia and Nico have broken free from Artemis and Hades’ control.

Percy’s power is limitless: he has complete dominion over water, controls the immovable earth, can even command the blood and liquid within the human body. He has embraced the part of himself that thrives off of power and now that no one is holding him back; he’s finally willing to become more monster than man.

Thalia is a brutal combatant and trained strategist; she’s become comfortable leading a battle or hunt. She is as raw as lightning, as terrifying and all-consuming as the sky, and she will not run from her fate any longer.

Nico has accepted the darkness within him, the way ghosts follow him, and he is as inevitable as the death he has grown close to. He rips through the earth, pulling through down to his father’s realm, and draws out empty corpses and lifeless skeleton puppets to create a never-ending army. All their enemies will come to him eventually. 

They first go to the River Styx, using Nico’s shadow traveling, and bathe themselves in immortality. Percy’s former anchor is lost, and he knows that Nico lacks Bianca and Thalia lacks Luke, but the three make it out anyways. 

Their only anchor left is their rage and determination, and it will guide them through hell.

This has been how the gods, how everything has existed for eternity, and they’re just the latest iteration of children destined to overthrow their parents.

Being a child of the Big Three has settled them with unimaginable power and horrible responsibility and they’re finally accepting it.

\-------

They launch their first blow against the gods by destroying the Parthenon. Percy thinks Annabeth would be impressed at them for possessing the foresight to target their ancient relics of power first.

The gods send demigods after them, but the three possess dominion over sky, earth, and sea: there’s not a hero alive who could catch them now. 

They do, however, manage to develop more of a concrete mission. Nico was too young and separate to witness much of Luke’s rise, but Percy and Thalia had front row seats. They have a blueprint to planning a revolution to overthrow the gods.

\-------

The first step is to recruit more demigods who agree with their goals and are willing to help support their cause- and, if it comes to it, fight with them.

Percy arranges a time to meet with Piper in New York, outside of camp, while Thalia and Nico work on building a stronghold. 

He sees how tired she looks, how worn down, and reminds himself that she has also lost a best friend and boyfriend, just like him. 

When he goes to her, he tells her of how the gods dragged those they loved on these quests – dragged themselves into these ultimately thankless endeavors – but she needs no reminders.

She tells him about the way Gaea haunted her for years without the gods’ intervention; how Hera twisted her memories and feelings for some grand scheme that just led to the death of her loved ones; the way her own mother, Aphrodite, publicly humiliated her during her claiming and twisted her into some ideal of beauty.

She remembers how the gods immediately reneged on their promise to Percy, how she herself was left unclaimed for years past the due date, and doesn’t want anyone else to feel abandoned.

She is the daughter of love personified, represents something greater than herself and binding to every person, horribly ancient and endearingly young at the same time. She is love and love is the reason that people start wars.

She reminds Percy that every demigod has countless reasons to hate the gods, and she goes with him to the River Styx happily.

\-------

They continue seeking out fresh help; now that they’ve destroyed a major landmark and nabbed another of the Seven from the most recent prophecy, they have the gods’ attention and must move fast.

Piper and Percy are in charge of recruitment now – between Piper’s inherent persuasive talents and Percy’s name recognition and charisma, they make an unstoppable team – while Thalia and Nico continue working on the group’s strategy and launching attacks.

They hit the Roman Colosseum, Acropolis, Delphi, Mycenae, and as many other places as they can without harming innocents. Their message is clear: the gods, the old ways must die and anyone who wants to can join their side. 

They tear open the ground beneath these ancient sites and raze them to dust with lightning and laugh as it burns, laugh at the desolation.

Meanwhile, Percy continues to quietly meet with as many other heroes as he can: Clarisse, a daughter of Ares to help lead attacks and strategize for eventual combat situations; Clovis, a son of Hypnos to easily incapacitate potential mortal opposition without killing them; and Will, a son of Apollo to help heal any injured demigods and prevent casulaties. 

He and Piper manage to recruit Katie Gardner, Connor and Travis Stoll, Jake Mason, Malcom Pace, and Chris Rodriguez from the Greek camp; and Leila, Janice, Michael, and Julius from the Roman camp. They start with the older siblings and the rest slowly follow until the camps – the gods’ supply of soldiers – begin to empty.

Their biggest recruit is Hylla Ramirez-Arellano, who brings the entirety of the Amazons with her- access to an essential network and stronghold throughout the world.

They command nature and people as easily as they change sides and Percy knows they’re more than halfway there.

\-------

There’s one last step to do to prepare before they can take this all the way to the gods: Piper and Percy go to meet with the last of the seven, Leo, Hazel, and Frank, in one last mutual plea to switch sides.

Hazel pleads with them, telling them that this isn’t what Jason and Annabeth would have wanted, that going against the gods will only bring them further away from any kind of proper vengeance.

Leo argues that there’s no way they can win and find absolution, that they’re only endangering their followers like Luke once did, but Piper and Percy don’t listen.

Frank doesn’t say anything- he’s already given up on saving them, has marked them as his enemies.

The two start to leave, but they’re blocked at the door by two individuals, a little too tall to be human, a little too confident to be mortal.

Piper grins and whispers, her voice laced with venom and anger though still honey-sweet, “Show yourselves.” They watch them transform – they’re beyond having to look away – and become Artemis and Apollo, the twin hunters.

Percy pushes her behind him and smirks, twisted up and unhinged. “I’ve been looking for a fight.” He glances at his friends, briefly, glaring. “Don’t say we didn’t try. We brought our own friends, too.”

Clovis, Thalia, and Nico rush into the room and the gods step back – good, Percy thinks, they should be frightened of them, for they may have strayed from the divine path but they’re monsters now – in shock. 

The teams are equal now, five against five, but it’s hardly an even fight.

The battle quickly separates into different groups: Nico and Percy, the two most likely to deal collateral damage, pull the twin archers into the shadows and land on the original Mount Olympus; and Thalia, Clovis, and Piper stay to face the last of the seven dedicated to the gods.

Between charmspeak and sleep magic, Leo and Frank are incapacitated before the fight can really even begin. Hazel is partly immune, due to her proclivity to magic of her own, but Thalia uses the metal surrounding the girl to conduct her sparks and shock her unconscious. It’s over quickly, despite the evenly matched teams, and the revolutionaries leave their victims in the store, unharmed.

Other demigods are not their enemies.

Percy and Nico, alternatively, are facing against two real gods for the first time and it’s a true test of their growing endurance and skill that they’re able to keep up. 

Artemis attempts to target Percy while Apollo goes after Nico, as the moon controls the tides while the sun erases darkness, but the two switch opponents too quickly to keep up. 

Apollo has always relied exclusively on fire and his bow to fight, but faced with an opponent like Percy this fails him. All the son of the sea god needs is one lucky hit, amidst putting out the flames with his water and using the earth to shield him from arrows, and he manages to get his hand on the sun god’s face and he reaches within, tugs with his gut, and –

-And rips.

Gold ichor is liquid-based, after all, and he tears this ancient being apart in barely an instant from the inside out.

Something inside him seems to rip at the same time, but Percy doesn’t have time to question it.

The moment her twin falls, Artemis falters and shrieks – the two have always been closely linked, in more ways than just lineage and power – and Nico takes the opportunity to drive his Stygian blade into her chest. It’s been doctored since his time with Hades and death magic spreads through her, wreaking havoc on her body till she falls to the ground, still twitching after her mind stops.

Percy thinks Annabeth told him, once, that wars were often started with the death of innocents. The twin archers are pure, sources of light and childhood, known for their youth amongst the tired Olympians, and he thinks it seems fitting. 

They bury their bodies in the sacred ground, respectful but lacking remorse, and regroup with Thalia.

He hadn’t wanted to kill anyone today, but they forced his hand. It shouldn’t be a significant line to cross- he’s killed before, whether on purpose with monsters or accidentally during the Titan’s War, but this is different, somehow. 

It’s finally too late to turn back.

\-------

Percy doesn’t regret the last few months – he’ll never regret protecting his family – but he worries that his path isn’t the right one.

Annabeth had always followed the gods, listened to what they had to say, and turning his back this decisively feels like a betrayal sometimes.

He meets with Rachel, having Piper send out the request and Nino shadow traveling with her to their fortress, and he pulls her aside from prying eyes- the other demigods never stop watching him, looking to him for guidance, these days.

He doesn’t want to be a god to them, even if he’s something far greater than mortal now, but he’s not sure how to make it stop.

She frowns at him – it seems there’s no love lost between the two, after everything that’s been said and done – and refuses to sit when he pulls out a chair. It’s alright, he’s more comfortable with standing these days too.

“Why did you ask me to meet you here?” She snarls, barely concealed rage coating her words.

“I wanted help with the upcoming battle- if you have anything else to offer, I want to make sure I’m not leading our friends into a massacre. I want to know that you trust me.”

She scoffs at him, the distance between them suddenly daunting. “You killed my god, Percy. I see that you’re fading, you don’t even seem to care about things anymore- I trust Percy Jackson, the guy who sat with me and told me he believed in making the world better and in holding the gods accountable; not the vengeful demigod who killed Apollo.”

He pushes down the sudden hurricane of anger at her words. It doesn’t do him any good to act on his temper, especially around old friends. Instead, he just leans against the wall, relaxing in a show of trust. “I’m scared of what’s going to happen next. I-I know I don’t have the right to ask anything of you-”

“You’re absolutely right, you don’t.”

“-but regardless, I need to know. Am I making things better?”

She stares at him, a million things unsaid between them, and shakes her head. “I can’t- I won’t lie to you. You’re becoming the thing you hated so much, you know that, right?”

He closes his eyes, tight, his face briefly betraying the weight of leading a war and pushing his power to it’s limits, but when he opens them again his face returns to impassivity. Rachel looks heartbroken. “I don’t know how to stop it and I’m not sure I want to anymore. I’m so powerful and it’s terrifying. I don’t want to lose sight of what I’m doing it for, of my friends, of Annabeth.”

“Percy,” she starts, stepping towards him and grasping his hands. “I know the future. There’s nothing you can do. I can’t protect you from this.” She glares at him and sighs, heavily. “You know there’s collateral damage from these fights of yours, right?” He nods and she continues. “Grover and Tyson both fell in a battle- they sided with the gods over you, after all. Don’t you know that’s wrong?”

It is wrong- it means everything, that his friends have fallen in a war he started. It just doesn’t mean as much as it should to him anymore. His hands tense and he looks down at his feet, his breath ragged. “I-I didn’t know.”

She hesitates, and pulls him into a close hug. “The only way to save yourself is to remember you’re fighting for Annabeth, for your friends, to hold the gods accountable. Don’t let yourself become them.”

It’s not lost on either of them how much this mirrors Luke’s last request to Annabeth to save him before the Titan War.

\-------

“This is your last chance to leave,” Percy yells, doing his best to amplify his voice to a whole room of Greeks, Romans, and Amazons. “We won’t fault you for not fighting in this final battle and you won’t be penalized once our side wins.” He stares across the room, looking at as many people as he can, and all he sees are looks of determination and resolve.

Thalia, Nico, and Piper all stand behind him in their own armor, a show of support. His right-hand men have never left his side and he knows that he wouldn’t have made it this far without the loyalty and support of his closest friends- a growing pantheon of their own.

He smirks. “Good. The gods are coming for us, they know where we are, and they hope to defeat us. But we’re stronger now, we have a cause to fight for, and we cannot let their cruelty and tyranny persist any longer!” The crowd cheers and he gathers their attention once more, somber now. 

“They have taken away our loved ones, forced us to be their toy soldiers for the last time! If we die now, we die for ourselves.”

They’re silent for a moment, frightened, but then their cheers return with a fervor. Percy smiles proudly at them- they’re repaying his loyalty in kind, and this is an army based off trust and love, rather than duty and obligation. 

They will fight, and they will win.

\-------

The four of them have become an unbreakable unit, but they still have moments when they’re afraid.

Thalia and Nico, Percy and Piper, they’re all unspeakably powerful, having bathed in the River Styx and embraced their godly powers to the point where they’re transcendent. 

They’re also unspeakably young.

Their power is terrifying and they’ve taken it to new heights they’re certain the gods couldn’t even fathom- their connection to humanity has made them a little too unpredictable, allowed them to embrace the darkness and monstrous parts of themselves.

Together, they represent the entirety of nature – sky, earth, water – and forces that govern humanity – love, death – and they will not fail in this task.

If the gods come at them with rage in their hearts, Piper will destroy their resolve. She can unmake even the most steadfast of the gods’ desires into her own.

As the gods land blows on their friends, Nico will make sure their own attacks will have fatal consequences. His connection to death has only grown as the war has progressed, and he’ll be able to render any destruction to the gods permanent. 

When the gods begin to plan and coordinate their attacks, Thalia will strike back harder, unrelenting until they are the ones to fall. She has led their army, acted as general, and she is as uncompromising as her former goddess. She will not fail her people; she will not run from her destiny this time.

At the end of this, Percy will be the one left standing, alongside his friends. He will not let his enemies win.

The four of them may be afraid of what comes next, unsure of what’s left of their dwindling humanity and mortality, but their strength is undeniable. 

Combined, they are stronger and better than the gods could ever have hoped to become- they are not like the gods and titans, for they will make a better world and rule justly. Moreover, they won’t make the mistake of letting their predecessors live.

They won’t make any of the gods’ countless mistakes.

\-------

Percy wipes sweat and blood off his brow as he stares at his friends fighting in the countryside below him. His knees ache and his hands shake.

“Sad, isn’t it?” The voice crackles like ozone behind him, and he turns to spit out a glob of blood from his mouth. “Watching your friends die.”

He pushes himself to his feet and scoffs angrily. “Like you’d know the feeling.” He’s covered in liquid, in viscous blood and glowing ichor and sticky sweat, and it stinks but he doesn’t want to waste energy cleaning it off. 

There’s no choice but to be desperately defiant at this point- Zeus will find his weak point eventually and he cannot keep this up forever; he’s already weakened more than he’s ever been before.

He sees dead on both sides and he can feel all the pain and tragedy of war in his soul in that moment. No matter the outcome, this is his fault, and his alone.

Clovis lies motionless on the ground, several demigods from the other side passed out around him. Travis is splayed out, horribly bloody, and Connor and Katie fight through tears above his body, Clarisse screams in rage and terror as Chris falls.

Percy feels a tug within his gut as he witnesses the carnage.

The gods have not gotten away unscathed, either: Dionysus, Demeter, Persephone, and Hermes have all fallen.

It feels like a waste – a sudden lack of something crucial in the world, of laughter and hard work, renewal and innovation – and Percy turns, ready to unleash all this pent-up rage onto Zeus, but it dissipates when he sees who’s joined his direct opponents: his own father, Poseidon. 

“Stop this, Perseus,” he says and his voice rumbles deep like an earthquake. “This war doesn’t need to happen- you can save so many lives by just ending it now.” 

His father puts his hand on his shoulder and Percy sinks into the touch. Some part of him – the part that was only twelve when he was brought into this world, the little kid who just wants direction, even at seventeen – wants his dad to protect him, wants to trust him, wants to be loyal to him.

Everyone ounce of him that has had doubts over this war, his actions, aches to just end it all- to accept that he’s still a child, that he couldn’t possibly know best, that he needs an adult to help him.

His father presses his advantage and continues. “Don’t do all this over a girl.” 

Percy’s eyes snap open and the moment ends. A tidal wave of emotion rushes through him, forcing out the conflict inside him. “Just a girl? Just a girl! She gave her life to try and protect you guys, and that’s all you have to say about her?”

His father steps back and holds up his hands, placating- condescending. “Now, Perseus, that’s not what I meant-”

“Shut up!” Percy shrieks, the air flooding with water droplets as his ire grows.

“Ugh, now look what you did,” Zeus mutters, circling him on the other side. “You made the baby warrior angry. He’s throwing a tantrum now.” The god almost sounds bored.

He snarls and summons something deep from inside. The earth shakes, pulling in the two gods’ feet, and Poseidon finally looks at him seriously. It’s too late now, though- he’s letting the ground eat them alive and he condenses the water from the air into two sharp blades.

He whirls around, moving too fast now for them to track, and falters once more when he sees that Hades has appeared- the third of the eldest gods. 

In front of him, he holds a frozen Annabeth. His voice is deep and rich, commanding, and Percy can’t help but pause to listen. 

“The girl you wanted, the one the Oracle said could end this? Can we stop this now? War is such a hassle for my offices to manage- too much paperwork.”

Percy drops back down – ignores the clear dismissal of the demigod’s efforts, their lives – and tears coming to his eyes from a startling mix of shock and betrayal, and watches as Annabeth opens her own. “P-percy?” She asks, voice quiet, and he falls at her feet.

“Annabeth,” he breathes, but it comes out gasping. “How are you here?”

Zeus steps forward and smiles. “You started this fight because your girlfriend died. As it so happens, we, the gods, have the authority to bring her back. You can have her back if you stop the invasion.”

Percy glances to the fights ongoing, and sees that his forces are starting to be overwhelmed. The sheer number of Amazons are running thin, many of the weaker demigods have already fallen, and the remaining gods are too strong for his more powerful allies to take on alone.

There was a time when he would’ve taken these losses at face value, but he’s had to be his own strategist for a while now and he knows they wouldn’t offer him something like this if their own side was winning.

Even if his allies were faltering, he had to be the one to follow through. He tightens his grip on his ice swords and plunges it through Annabeth’s throat. She dissolves in a shimmer of golden dust and he shudders, looking down at the ground.

Rachel sold him out to his enemies, even as she told him to fight to keep Annabeth in mind, and he doesn’t have time for sentimentalities anymore. 

He has a war to win- and, based on the fact that the entirety of the Big Three have cornered him exclusively, they’re terrified.

“Percy-” His father’s voice is panicked.

“Don’t,” he’s hurt, of course he is, but entertaining the feeling won’t do anything but give his enemies an opening. “She wasn’t even real.” It’s not a question.

Hades laughs, deep and terrifying. “No one comes back from the dead, little demigod. You should have taken our offer.”

He should be afraid, the Big Three gods ganging up on him like this, but all he feels is rage and determination. His power has long been limitless, he has never hit a cap, and he won’t now.

He holds out his hand and can feel the blood racing through each of their veins – even if it’s gold, it makes them feel surprisingly human – and clenches his fist, teeth grinding. 

Their bodies tear themselves apart and something deep within himself has reset for the last time. 

It’s practically as simple as a parlor trick now.

He sees the three fates again across the field and his turquoise string has turned to ash in their hands.

He’s finally free of whatever destiny was once assigned to him.

Thalia is fighting Hera on her own – she’s growing weaker by the moment – so he joins her first. This time, he freezes the liquid inside this goddess – the same one who had once tortured and taunted Annabeth, even while using her as a pawn – before ripping it and it’s neater that way. Thalia summons a massive lightning bolt down onto the ground where the remains of the goddess lay, decimating her and scarring the land.

Rachel stands across the battlefield, frozen and armor less. Her eyes are piercing. He ignores the way his friend looks at him in surprise and he moves further through the field. 

Nico fights alone against Ares and Percy smiles with his teeth as he boils the war god’s blood. Nico just laughs with him and gives him a high-five once he’s finished.

The last gods standing are Aphrodite, Athena, and Hestia, and Percy thinks its good they’re the last ones. The truly oldest, wisest, kindest of the gods are before him today and they are the ones who deserved to be here the longest.

He walks up to them with Nico and Thalia behind him and he’s pleased to see the dawning horror on Athena’s face when she sees him. 

She raises her hand, pointing at him, and remains largely stable to his disappointment. “You’re not human anymore.”

He twirls an ice sword in his hand and balances a swirling ball of molten blood with the other. “Was I ever?” He presses the tip of his blade to her throat and snarls. “They killed your daughter, you know- she was more human than me. Any last words?”

“She was my favorite daughter,” Athena says, staring at him cautiously. “…Thank you. I do genuinely hope you do a better job than we ever did.”

Even when faced with death, he can admire her sheer wisdom- it takes some deeply human feeling to recognize one’s shortcomings and put aside personal agenda for the good of the future. 

He’s beyond caring though, and so this magnanimous sacrifice of pride doesn’t matter.

He sticks her through, then turns to Aphrodite, evaporating her and adding her blood to the mass in his hand. He hasn’t been able to give love a single happy thought since Annabeth died, and he won’t give the goddess the chance to pull a similar trick to Hades- he won’t let himself show weakness in front of his army. 

The whole camp watches with bated breath as he turns to Hestia and frowns. His own hesitation confuses him, his friends stepping up beside him to hurry him. “I don’t want to kill you.”

She smiles sadly in return. He thinks he sees a flicker of his mom, but it’s gone too quickly to be sure. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m not much of a fighter, and there’s not much left for me here- you destroyed my hearth.”

His hand shakes as she guides the ice dagger to her chest. She must be exhausted- he knows he is. “You can rest now, once this is done. You won’t become us. You won’t make our mistakes.” She’s an innocent, he knows this, and so he knows he already has made the mistakes of the gods, even as he fought so hard to avoid it. He sobs brokenly and holds her as he stabs her through.

He’s only allowed a moment to be weak before Thalia pulls him back on his feet, however. 

“Pull yourself together, Perce,” she whispers in his ear. “All of us need to be in this together if we’re going to lead together.”

He flexes his hand, can feel the blood in every single hero’s veins on the battlefield, can sense the hearts beating of everyone on the planet, and thinks of how easy it would be to clench his fist and unmake the world.

His power hasn’t finished growing – it never will – and he’s still stronger than any mortal was ever meant to be.

He looks up and grins, evaporating the blood in his hand and cleaning the dirt off his face. It’s surprisingly easy to push down his emotion, the pain he feels, to bask in their success. A little part of him is proud of how easy it was to destroy an ancient, enduring pantheon. 

Thalia grasps his hand tight, causing him to drop the ice blade, and Nico ducks under their joined hands so he’s tucked into their embrace. Piper steps up to them and grabs his other hand. 

The four of them stand together, as a unit, and smile at the crowd. They are immortal, invulnerable, and are the new gods of this age. They will be stronger, better, greater than the past generations have ever been, and they must not fail.

They speak together about their plans for the future of the world and how they won’t repeat the same mistakes. They never once mention Annabeth or Jason.

\-------

Rachel stares horrified from across the field, where the gods had set her before the battlefield as a witness, at the broken light emanating from each of their eyes- in defeating this great evil, they lost the parts of themselves that once made them good.

There’s no one left with the desire or inclination to hold these young gods accountable.

**Author's Note:**

> if you're interested, my tumblr is kittypryde-bipride
> 
> i mostly post new fics when i write them


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